Easel



June 28, 1932. D. A. BICKFORD 1,864,972

EASEL Filed July 29. 1929 Patented June 28, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC DEN A. BIC'KFORD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 IDEAL SCHOOL SUPPLY QOML- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS EASEL Application filed July 29,

My invention relates to easels.

The principal object of my invention is to devise an easel which is more particularly adapted for the imparting of instructions in painting to children and which is constructed and arranged with a View of insuring the comfort of the child and providing convenient access to the materials and implements used.

A further object is to devise an easel of the character described which is provided with a trough below the board portion of the easel having a length which is at least equal to the length of the board, for' the purpose of catching paint drippings therefrom and which is also employed as a carrier for the paint ma terials and brushes, so that all paint facilities are immediately at hand for use by the child.

A further object is to devise a trough for an easel as above set forth which isprovided with a specially. formed carrier that is suspended within the trough and intended to hold the paint and brush containers, or other articles, and which is so designed in respect of the trough as, to facilitate its insertion therein or removal therefrom.

A further object is to provide an easel wit clip appliances for securing paper, or other painting or drawing material, to the surface of the board,;which are arranged'for easy applicability and detachability to and from the board, but are designed to prevent their in 'advertent withdrawal when in operative position, or in the process of securing paper thereby.

My improved easel has 'been devised both in accordance with correct pedagogical principles as regards the instruction of children in painting and also with a view of satisfying the practical administrative require ments of storage, cleanliness, and ease of cleaning. In teaching children to paint, modern methods dictate that the child should paint with an upright posture, free from any necessity for stooping to grasp brushes, or to redip the brush, and that the painting ma terials should be convenient ofaccess, as the childs choice of color is frequently controlled by the ease with which it can be acquired. If all colors are equally accessible, obviously, there is a larger opportunity for the develop- 1929. Serial No. 381,986.

ment of the childsnatural color taste and technique. It is likewise essential from a practical standpoint to fashion the trough for the catching of dripping from the board,

brushes and containers, as well as arranging the same so as to facilitate its cleaning.

My improved easel has been designed to meet all of the foregoing requirements in a simple and convenient manner as will become more apparent hereinafter. These and further objects ofmy invention will be set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and the novel means by which said objects are efiectuated will be definitely pointed out in the claims. 7

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved easel, showing the same as it appears when in use;

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View of the front portion of the easel showing the trough which is carried below the board portion thereof;

Fig. 3 is a section along the line 33 in Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a form of carrier which is employed in connection with my improved easel as a means of holding in paint and painting implement containers;

Fig. 5. is a section along the line 5-5 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing one of the improved clips used with my easel;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View looking in the direction of the arrow 6 in Fig. 5. V

The numeral 10 designates my improved easel which comprises the front legs 11, rear legs 12, both sets of said legs being braced or strengthened in any approved manner to function as front and rear units, and which are hinged at their upper portion as at 13. Pivotally connected and foldable arms such as 14- are secured to the legs 11 and 12 to limit the separating movement thereof and to maintain the same in a non-collapsible position when separated. The arms 14 are of the type customarily employed for functions of this nature and in and of themselves form no part of the present invention, it being understood that when the easel is open for use, as shown in Fig. 1, the legs may be folded toward each other only after pressure has been applied to the central portion of the foldable legs 14 in a vertical direction. The front portion of the easel 10 is provided with a board 15 of approved characteristics so far as the material thereof is concerned.

In order to catch the drippings which may fall from a-brush in moving from one of the paint containers, hereinafter described, to the board 15, or drippings arising from other sources, a trough 16 is disposed adjacent the lower edge of said board. Said trough is preferably leak-proof and is formed of a piece of metal which is bent into a substantially U-shape with flaring sides to form a receptacle having a curved bottom and the ends of the metal so curved are closed by end portions 17 to define a trough. Intermediate the ends 17, a strut 18 is bridged between the sides of the trough, adjacent the upper edges thereof, for the purpose of strengthening said sides and affording a support for one end of the container carriers hereinafter described. The trough 1G is removablycarried on the front legs 11 by means of screws 20 which are threaded in said legs with the shanks thereof extending through elongated slots 19 provided in the rear side of the trough 16. The lower portions of said slots are slightly enlarged, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and in mounting said trough on the legs 11, said enlarged portions are first registered with the heads of the screws 20 to move over the same, after which said trough is moved downwardly to permit the narrower portions of said slots to engage with the shanks of said screws.

A pair of removable carriers 21 are suspended within the trough 16 as a means of holding the several containers required. Each of these carriers has a skeletonized construction, as shown clearly in Fig. 4, and is formed of a plurality of strips which are appropriately bent for the purposes intended and secured togetherin any approved manner. One of said strips comprises a strip 22 which is bent to a general U-shape to form a base 23 and a pair of upstanding portions 24 which function generally as hangers in a manner hereinafter explained, and Whose uppermost ends are curved, as at 25, to form handles. An arm 26 is secured at its mid-portion, as by welding, riveting or any other approved manner, to each hanger portion 24 below the handles 25 and the ends of each arm are cut and bent to form a pair of feet 27 which, when the carrier occupies the position shown in Fig, 2 rests at one end on the upper edge of the end 17 of'thetrough and at the other end on the-upper surface of the strut 18, thereby suspending the carrier 21 within said trough between the locations indicated. In order to adequately support and guidethe upper portions of the containers 28, which may be jars, glasses, cans or similar articles,

when in holding position in the carrier, I provide a strip 29 which is bent to closely encircle the upper portions of said containers. Specifically, the strip 29 is bent, beginning at one end thereof, to form a plurality of semicircular portions 30 which are spaced from each other by a plurality of flat portions 31 which are slightly offset from the common center line of the portions 30. Dependent upon its length and the number of and sizes of the openings for the containers desired, the strip 29 is bent in a generally return direction at its mid-point to form a plurality of semicircular portions 32, each of which is complementary to its corresponding 1y placed portion 30, and which are spaced from each other by the flat portions 34 which bear a similar complementary relation to the portions 31. The complementary relation of the portions 30 and 32 define container openings 33 and the openings so formed are maintained by securing the portions 31 and 34 together in any approved manner, as well as securing the ends of the bent strip 29 to the hanger portions 24. The structural arrangement above described is further strengthened by the means of U-shaped strips 35 which are secured at the ends thereof to diametrically opposite portions of the strip 29 which defines the intermediate openings 33 for the containers and are further secured at the mid-point of their bases, or lower portions, to the lower portion 23 of the strip 22, the former preferably passing under the portion 23, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. The dimensions and general construction of the carrier 22 in relation to the trough 16 are such that said carrier may be placed within said trough for suspension from the ends 17 and strut 18 without bearing at any point against the Ii-ii inner surface of said trough, thereby facilitating its insertibility in and removal from said trough.

As a further improvement for the easel, I

have formed a groove 36 on the rear side of 1 the board 15 adjacent to and parallel with the upper edge of said board and extending substantially the length thereof. Any desired number of clips, such as 37 are mounted over the upper edge of said board and each includes a front arm 38 having a curved nose 39 formed by bending the end of said arm outwardly, as shown at 40, and serving to permit the insertion of paper or other drawing material between said arm and the board 15. It will be understood that the clip 37 is formed preferably of a flat, springy material, as is common in appliances of this character, and the rear arm 42 of said clip extends downwardly along the rear side of the board 15 with the end 43 thereof bent and extending into the groove 36. Preferably, the end of the bent portion 43 is curved as shown at 44 in Fig. 6, so that said portion has only a limited'contact with the base of 4. l vu luv the groove 36 to thereby permit an easy sliding movement of the clip 37 along the upper edge of the board 15 without affecting the fundamental engagement of said portion with the groove 36. It will be observed from Fig. 5 that the provision of the bent portion 43 not only prevents an inadvertent, upward movement of the clip 37, but also insures the complete retention of said clip in operative position on the board when the front portion 40 of said clip is pulled outwardly from the front surface of said board in order to insert a strip of paper between said clip and board.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a simple and effective arrangement, not only for the necessary support of the several containers utilized for paints and the implements required in painting, but also by reason of the functional re lation of the trough 16 in respect of the board 15 for the purpose of catching drippings therefrom, drippings from thebrush, as well as those flowing down the sides of the containers on the outside. The curved shape of the trough 16 avoids the use of all corners which are comparatively diflicult to clean. Moreover, the carriers 22 are suspended within the trough 16 in such a manner as to obviously facilitate their positioning in and re moval from the trough, free from any danger of binding against the sides thereof, while its slreletonized construction not only operates to effectively hold the necessary containers used in work of the kind indicated, but is also sufficiently strong to withstand rough usage. Two carriers 22 have been shown as probably affording the most practical solution for easels of the dimensions usually employed in respect of ease in handling, but it will be apparent that a single carrier could be employed, if desired. The advantages of the improved clip have already been described.

While I have shown one set of elements and combinations thereof for effectuating my improved easel, it will be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact forms and structures shown, for many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In an easel structure having a board, means for supporting containers in front of the board comprising a trough and a carrier for holding containers having hangers depending from the upper edges of said trough and engageable therewith for suspending said carrier within said trough.

2. In an easel structure having a board, means for supporting containers in front of the board comprising a trough and a carrier for holding containers having hangers depending from the upper edges of said trough and engageable therewith for suspending i said carrier within said trough, said hangers being provided with extensions to form handles for said carrier.

3. In an easel structure having a board, means for supporting containers in front of the board comprising a trough and a skeletonized carirer suspended Within said trough for holding containers therein, said carrier being formed of a plurality of strips bent to form a supporting strip for said containers, hanger strips for suspending said carrier, and guide strips for engaging the sides of said containers.

4. In an easel structure having a board, means for supporting containers in front of the board comprising a trough and a skeletonized carrier suspended within said trough for holding containers therein, said carrier being formed of a plurality of strips bent to form a supporting strip for said containers, hanger strips for suspending said carrier and having extensions adapted to serve as handles for said carrier, and guide strips "for engaging the sides of said container.

5. In an easel structure having a board, means for supporting containers in front of the board comprising a trough and a carrier for holding containers having hangers provided with oflset portions engageable with the upper edges of said trough for suspending said carrier therein.

6. In an easel structure having a board, means for supporting containers in front of the board comprising a trough and a skeletonized carrier suspended within said trough for holding containers therein, said carrier being formed of a plurality of strips bent to form a supporting strip for said containers, hanger strips for suspending said carrier from the sides of said trough and provided with arms having offset feet for engaging the upper edges of said trough, and guide strips for engaging the sides of said containers.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

DEN A. BICKFORD. 

